A long wail pierced the dark air, fading, until it became two.

It was night; a young boy, seemingly around the age of eight, was fast asleep in a bed by a wall. At the bed's feet was an enormous pink lion, its paws twitching in a dream. It flicked an ear and barely opened its eyes at the alarming sound before dozing back off. It didn't concern him.

Down the stairs and past the living room and the kitchen, the structure of the building started to lose the feeling that it was a house. A single door in the very back wall of the room could be seen.

It was behind this door that the scream had come from.

"S-sapphire?"

A small voice quivered in the dim light. A short red figure didn't hurry to scramble up, instead fearfully waiting for a reply. After a few moments, a hiccupped sob was heard.

Ruby hurried to her feet. "Is... is there anything...?"

"I saw it, Ruby," a weak voice answered. "Nothing... nothing is going to stop them."

"What do you mean?" Ruby hurried toward her, attempting to reach out to the blue Gem's shoulder, but Sapphire flinched away.

"No matter how many paths the future takes," Sapphire whimpered, pausing through tears, "we don't complete our mission. We don't... Homeworld..."

"Of course we can, Sapphire!" cried the other Gem. "We always have! We've always found a way! The rest of them-they believe in us, they believe in Garnet!"

Sapphire crouched and buried her face in her arms. "I knew you'd say that. I didn't want to show you."

"We'll get through this together," soothed Ruby. *Come on, Sapph. Let's-"

More sobs, far more violent than the last few, erupted from Sapphire. "No! You don't understand! I didn't want to hurt you!"

Ruby took a step back. "W-what?"

"Forgive me, Ruby."

"Sapphire?"

Ruby stumbled back farther as the scream returned and Sapphire's form began to glow. Horrified, Ruby stood back up, balling her fists.

"Sapphire, no!" Ruby yelled, tears in her eyes. "You need to fight it!"

The glowing form shifted and started to expand slowly. It let out a deep groan.

"We need you, Sapphire! You were our hope when we couldn't see a way out of the dark. It was always you who we could turn to, when we were helpless." Ruby rushed toward the shifting form and buried her face in it. "We love you. I love you."

With a mighty screech, the new form took place.

"Garnet? We're ready to go!" A motherly singsong voice erupted from outside. "Garnet?"

Ruby let the door slide open, but barely consciously. Three pairs of eyes stared.

"Garnet?" Pearl repeated.

The red Gem was only slightly battered up. She let the gauntlet vanish by her side, eyes staring at the red bubble hovering over her other hand.

"Ruby?" called out a younger-sounding, feminine voice. Confusion was in her tone.

Ruby waved her and and the bubble was gone. She closed her eyes tightly, fearing she might start crying again, and walked towards the rest of the Crystal Gems.

"I'm ready, too."